Tag Archives: landscape

I have a deep appreciation and love for adventure, this I believe started the moment I entered this lifetime. I have also come to ﻿realize the importance of taking a break from the art process grind, and the necessity to let things go once and while in order to reclaim spirit and do things that are healthy for the constitution. Surfing is one of of those things. I have been in Soutern Mexic for a few weeks now, following a long a miserable winter in the Northern latitudes. Funny here people talk about how hot it is, in Canada were always on about how cold it is. It would seem weather really is the universal language. The purpose of my travels is in part to gain some fresh perspective and immerse myself in Latin American culture. I also have travelled here to be with the foamies, the surf family, and join them on a few road trips up and down the southern coast. The ocean is a great teacher.

On land the smell of fire which is so central to life in this part of the world fills me with great joy. I want to experience this place not just for the waves but for its soul, it’s spirit, dive right into the Oaxacan way of life. I have travelled on its highways, and roads less travelled, absorbing as much as I possibly can. I have surrendered to its rhythm, putting aside my camera, or any device and just being in it, words or pictures just do not do justice here. This place changes me, my brain gets rewired, between ocean swims, surf trips, and comidors, sunrises, sunsets, bird life, and friendly folk, it’s endless, never a dull moment. I have been in areas where there is very little English, and I have been forced to dive into Spanish speaking, and my utterances are small, albeit growing. The more I spend time here the more I listen and absorb its nuances. Slowly I begin to comprehend what is being communicated, which opens up a whole new world of possibility. There is magic in this place, el lugar magica, I have stayed in shacks that felt like 5 star resorts, they wish they had the views I have seen, better yet it’s a good thing I like the rustic way it’s just better, sorry Hilton, no offenso, less crowds and roads less travelled make my heart zing zang.

This is a rather short entry the heat here has made it thigh to sit and write, I will be catching up soon though my friends, amigos, thank you visit and sharing the positive vibes.

fotoMahaloness

Due to a terrible internet connection my pics are limited to this entry, below is a hybrid artwork I submitted to seawalls on instagram who did a call out, artactivism, and this was my entry, it is a combination of a mural I did called ‘Creator’ and a background image of the Pacific Ocean as seen from the shores of Southern Mexico.

I am a huge fan of the sign painting in Mexico.

a shop along the highway en route to a secret surf spot

Churros stand en route into Peurto

I decided to do a little architectural rendering on an empty lot, perhaps my future home, I am just going to out that out there into the universe.

‘Spiritus Oaxaca’ 🐡 hälts hybrid art featuring a new watercolour I have been working on while travelling in southern Mexico, this piece reflects the spirit of this part of Earth, the people, the ocean, the land, it is truly beyond words….the last few touches I experienced a small tremor, a surreal experience.

It is an ocean that will turn a mountain into sand, it is the wind that will sculpt a desert. The desert is a place of extremes, and no doubt a difficult climate for any human, let alone plant or animal, yet in a desert you will find life. In my latest painting we find the footsteps of man leading us into the desert towards a mirage of a distant oasis, representing hope and the chance to sustain his life. When I painted the desert I thought about the changing climate on Earth, and the real potential for new deserts as soil is depleted by ever increasing demand for food, questionable land management, and water shortages. There is also a spiritual element to this work, as the desert represents a metaphysical plane where man is confronted with the a depleted faith and a weakened soul force. It is in the oasis where the spring of life acts as a beacon for a lost soul to replenish his faded spirit and the chance to be reborn as a new man. It may also be an illusion brought on by sheer deprivation magnifying basic needs into hallucinations of abundance and grandeur. The desert painting embodies a dream like quality, and there is a beauty to the shapes that make up its landscape. In the end I called the titled this work, ‘a pirate’s dream’. I imagined myself being a pirate on a ship dreaming of an open ocean made of sand as a hallucinatory island floats ever so tantalizingly in the path ahead, where hidden treasures lay in wait to be pillaged and plundered.

fotoMahaloness

as seen through a gifted lens…

a pirate’s dream
24x48x2
acrylic on canvas
this is what I would consider a sculptural painting, no projection or grid system was used, it takes a little longer to do, the results speak for the themselves.
c.2014

the finished commission hangs on the wall, what stories will be created by those who see it, I am hardly a person of espionage but there is a part of me that wishes I could hear what people come up with.

I do commissions, any interested parties please message me via wordpress or through links provided on this blog. I have made many paintings for those far and wide, beautiful connections made through art. Thank you and Mahaloness over and out.

As the weather turns serious and the local rivers flood, it is time for Mahaloness to take shelter underground. Next in the list to do, a landscape portrait, ironically of a desert environment. What began as a napkin drawing is now transmuted into a painting. As I build the desert environment I am finding that there is some interesting influences in this work. Already I sense a little bit of Dali, Monet, and Renoir, to name a few. Perhaps this landscape will be what I think I would like our home to look like, no buildings, no visible habitation, a new frontier to explore with no signs of modern life. Does this make it partially fantasy, or even a dream? Perhaps. As we fill this planet with the human mark, this type of thinking may fall in the category of romanticism, it seems to me this is no different to when Renoir was painting amidst the horrors of WWI, his paintings were playful, colourful and filled with golden light and he felt that a painter should fill the world with beauty as there is enough tragedy going on.